The Gadgets Page

Food storage is highly recommended by the LDS church, so it is a common thing in Utah for families to have a two year supply of food in their basements. Being raised Jehovah Witness, I am always worried about the Apocalypse, so the idea of hoarding a two year supply of canned food sounds really good to me as well. I saw an advertisement for this company that specializes in making racks for food storage:

• Shelf Reliance: Food Storage Racks | Food Rotation Systems | 72 Hour Kits

The cool thing about their racks is that they are front loading, which means when you need a can of green beans, you go downstairs and take a can from the shelf. The rest of the cans roll into place when you remove that can of beans. When you buy a new can of green beans, you put it in the front loading slot and it rolls around to the back of the line. That way, your food storage never sits in your basement and rots. It just rotates as you eat food normally.

Now, storing a two year supply of food in the basement can be considered a little weird, but the truth is, I’ve personally known many people who have been saved by their food storage. In one case, a friend had been laid off at his job. He couldn’t find work for almost a year. Food was never an issue for them because they had their food storage. In the other case, a friend’s husband became very sick and ended up losing his job because of it. Once again, they were able to make their house payment because they didn’t have to worry about how they were going to feed their family. Sure, disasters, terrorism and Teamster Unions could bring our country to its knees, but having a backup plan when personal tragedy hits is something that can make or break you.

This looks like an interesting conversation piece to have in your living room. It holds approximately six to seven books (or DVDs, CDs or VHS Tapes) on the wall with no visible means of support.

• magicalSHELF! by Linky & Dinky

There was a lot of speculation about how this was accomplished. Based on the clues on the Linky & Dinky site and the Museum of Hoaxes site, we think we know how they do it. It’s an entertaining experiment in logic and we had a lot of fun trying to figure it out.

Via: Museum of Hoaxes – MagicSHELF

I’m continually surprised and delighted by Nintendo. They already have me. I bought a Wii at the end of January when my sister-in-law called me from a Shopko and said they have two Wiis, did she want me to get her one? We were at her house within an hour with cash in hand for the exchange like a junkie informed of a new shipment.

After less than a month of owning the Wii, what does Nintendo do? They give me MORE free stuff! They just added a channel called Everybody Votes. Here is their description of it:

• Nintendo.com News : Nintendo Launches Everybody Votes Channel for Wii

“This opinion-based channel asks Wii owners who have connected their systems to the Internet to weigh in on a variety of topics, some thoughtful, some amusing, some off-the-wall.”

Do you like cats or dogs? Which is more romantic, chocolates or roses? Sure, they are silly questions, but it’s fun to take your place in the voting. Of course, that’s not the killer app. The best part of Everybody Votes is the Prediction option. You can predict what you think everyone will vote for. Later, when the votes are tallied, you can hang your head in shame or serve up the bragging rights!

What did I have to pay to add the Everybody Votes channel to my Wii? Nothing! Zero! Zip! Okay, that’s a lie. It takes about 100 blocks of memory or so, but I was gladly willing to download it. Since there are so few games available for the Wii right now, Nintendo is very smart to keep adding little free games to their channel lineup. I have something to entertain me while I wait for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 to come out.

Advertisements have been popping up everywhere for Cadillac. In my gaming magazine, on my websites and everywhere. They feature alternative-looking individuals who are obsessed with Cadillacs. It really makes me feel bugged. You can see the videos that they have put up here:

• mycadillacstory

The whole advertising campaign makes me mad. You can’t make me like your cars by sticking one of my peers behind the wheel. Cadillacs are monsterous boats of cars with the gas mileage of an SUV. There is NOTHING about them that appeals to me. Just sticking a multi-tattooed person in front of them isn’t enough to make me want one.

Here’s a unique idea, Cadillac: Try designing a car that I want to buy! How about a sleek tiny thing with great gas mileage and unique styling? It can cost a lot of money. That’s what Cadillacs are, but throw me a bone.

With the design of their cars, Cadillac is running into the sad fact that their consumers are getting so old that their children have taken away the keys. Your population is dying off, Cadillac. I’m sure you realize that, but you can’t get the living to buy your cars without an automotive makeover.

If you are looking for the ten best Valentine’s Day Gadgets, you’re out of luck. Valentine’s Day is about saying I love you and the best way to do it is with your ACTIONS, not your gifts.

For Valentine’s Day, ask your partner what things you could do to show him/her that you love them. Each person is different and they might not even be able to answer that question today. Listening for it is your goal. When your loved one asks you to take out the garbage, do it, and then do it again next week without being asked. When you they ask you to put your dirty clothes in the hamper, do it. It’s those small things in life that show them that you love and respect them.

Love isn’t about diamond rings and expensive gifts. It’s about the little actions that you do every day to show them that you love them.

Also, it might be a good idea to keep your eyes open for all the little things that your partner does to show you love. Are you insane about where the toothpaste should be in the medicine cabinet? Does it get put away in the “right” spot every time? Then thank them. Do the dishes that you put into the sink mysteriously get put into the dishwasher, washed and put away without your input? Then thank them. Does your towel get hung up, even though you leave it crumpled on the floor after every shower? Then thank them.

Gratitude and awareness will get you further than any fancy gift could.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I got Guitar Hero II for Christmas from Mike this year. Stacey and Dan gave me an extra guitar (wireless, baby!) so that we could all play together. It has been so fun that Stacey and Dan actually bought a Playstation 2 just to play the game. Seriously, we have had many fun hours together the four of us pretending that we are rock gods. Okay, I don’t need to pretend. The game is so good that I really think I AM a rock god.

I’m not the only one who loves to play. This review at Infovore is so descriptive that it will make you run out and buy Guitar Hero II:

• Infovore » Great gaming moments of 2007 #1: Guitar Hero II

I love his description of the finale of the game:

The greatest moment in the game is the final encore. It’s the final gig. You’ve shredded your way through four hellish solo-heavy songs, playing a special gig at Stonehenge. And the crowd start clamouring for an encore. But this time around, they’re not chanting indecipherable words, oh no.

It’s quite clear what they’re yelling.

“Freebird! Freebird!”

They want you to play Freebird.

He didn’t even tell you the BEST part of that final gig. If you can make it through it (I couldn’t. Mike had to do the encore.), your character is taken for a ride of his/her life! I’ve really enjoyed playing Guitar Hero II and we’ve only gotten the Medium difficulty. Now we are trying the hard difficulty level and the fun has just begun!

Via: Meriblog: Meri Williams’ Weblog » links for 2007-01-10

This is a brilliant film from Germany comparing the iPhone to a recent Windows Mobile unit. Not only does Windows Mobile do everything the iPhone does, it also does GPS navigation from Tom Tom and is a radio receiver.

The sad truth is, the iPhone isn’t about features. It’s about easy to use features. The iPhone is also about fashion. As much as the geek community hates to admit it, they are just as much slaves to fashion as celebrities at a Versace fashion show. MacWorld and Fashion Week have more in common than either of them want to admit.

Via: Found Footage: iPhone vs. Windows Mobile – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

I talked about the O’Neill iPod Ski Jacket when it was announced in September of 2005:

• The Gadgets Page » Solar Backpack and iPod Jacket for Skiers

At the Eleksen booth at CES, I was able to see the O’Neill jacket firsthand, in addition to a lot of other products that Eleksen is a part of. Eleksen manufactures touch sensitive fabric. Back in September, I wondered if the jackets were machine washable. They are. In addition to that, you can crumple the fabric, dry it in the dryer and type on it for hours.

When I tested the products, I expected there to be little buttons under the arrows that felt like a good click when you pressed them. Instead, they are as smooth as any fabric with no indication that you’ve pressed the button except the music stopped playing. It was amazing.

Eleksen has used their fabric in ski jackets, dress jackets, backpacks, and a great laptop sized keyboard that works with your PDA or Pocket PC. The keyboard rolls up to a tiny size and weighs almost nothing. They were having a little trouble getting it to communicate with the Pocket PC at the booth. They didn’t demonstrate it with a Palm-OS unit, but they said it works with Palm. I felt uneasy typing on it because I’m used to a familiar “click” when I’ve finished pressing a button. This keyboard had no tactile response and I had to watch the screen to see if the letter I had pressed showed up. I also couldn’t feel if my fingers were placed properly on the keyboard and I suspect that over long term use, they would tend to drift.

All the products they displayed at the Eleksen booth were interesting and I really enjoyed playing with them all. I was amazed that fabric could be touch sensitive and I feel like this is one of the most innovative products I saw at CES.

Official Eleksen Website

Here is a great comparison between the iPhone and the Treo 700p. I’ve owned a Treo for a couple of years now and I’ve loved it, but the iPhone has appeal. Here’s the initial stackup:

• rentzsch.com: iPhone vs. Treo

He missed one thing in the equation: it’s an iPhone. Just the fact that it’s a phone made by Apple has some geek appeal. We have to face it that our choice in phones can be judged just as harshly as our taste in clothes or music. If a lawyer showed up to his meeting with an iPhone instead of a Blackberry, everyone in the room would tilt their heads to the side and make snap judgments.

The same is true for the geek. In a year or so, the geek who shows up with an iPhone will either be considered an equal or laughed at. Right now, it could go either way.

Consider this, however. I bought an original Palm Pilot. I sold it for $50 to a real estate agent who wanted to try out this new technology stuff. Matt Strebe bought a Newton instead. He sold his for three times what he paid for it to a person who was obsessed with Newtons. Will the iPhone be like the Newton or the Palm Pilot? Considering its heritage, I’m banking on the iPhone.

Via: Rentzsch: iPhone vs. Treo + iPhone Bug – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

I remember this commercial. It came out when the Playstation 2 was brand spanking new. Now that we are living with PS3, it’s fun to see the PS9 commercial. I don’t know if I want my video games to be lodged in my brain, though…